Germany "can cut CO2 by four-fifths"

Germany can cut emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas, 80% by 2050 against 1990 levels, but only if total energy consumption is halved, a study by the nation's environment agency has found. Halving energy consumption by 2050 would require a sharp decrease in electricity consumption, which instead has been rising in recent years. Among options to reverse this trend, the agency said that 39bn kilowatts of consumption could be saved if industry employed more advanced electronic motors and households did not use the stand-by option on electronic devices. See press release.

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